True friends?
by lArkA52
Summary: When the basketball team picks on Ryan, will Troy save the day or will he just stand there and watch? ONESHOT. Not slash, if that's what you think. R & R, please.


**The title really doesn't have much to do with the story, but if you want to analyze it and so forth, I guess you could give me a huge explanation about how it DOES have everything to do with the story, but please don't.**

**True Friends? is my first HSM fic, so please don't be too harsh if it was really bad.**

**IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm sorry to all of you who wanted it to be a chaptered story, butthis isjust going to stay a oneshot.**

**_Disclaimer_: I do not own HSM or any of the characters. I do own the DVD (and the plot of this story), though, so if you steal it, you DIE! (Just kidding.)**

"Ms. Darbus?" Ryan Evans timidly raised his hand.

"Yes, Ryan?" she snapped impatiently.

"May I go to the bathroom?"

"Of course," she replied, obviously distracted with the performance on stage.

Ryan ran out of the auditorium. When he got out into the hallway, he leaned against the wall and sighed with relief. Of course, he really didn't have to go to the bathroom; he just wanted to escape Mrs. Darbus and her "chapel of the arts."

As he walked down the hallway, he decided to go to the bathroom anyways, rather than risking getting caught by one of his cast members. He didn't want to have to explain why he was on the opposite side of the building, nowhere near the bathrooms.

He neared the boys' locker room, and was about to enter when he remembered that 12 other people would be in there. Basketball practice would just be getting out, and the locker room would be full of jocks. Strong, tall, mean jocks. The last time he went to the bathroom while the guys' basketball team was in there, he was in his freshman year …

* * *

_"Hey, Sharpay, I'll be right back. I gotta go to the bathroom," said Ryan as the duo walked out of the doors from the auditorium. It was 4:30; practice for the winter musical had gotten over early, and the Evans twins were headed to the YMCA to help out with the-theatre club._

_Sharpay nodded, then said, "I'm gonna bike over there now, I'll meet you there, 'kay?"_

_" 'Course," replied her brother._

_They parted ways, Ryan heading for the bathroom, and Sharpay heading for the door._

_As Ryan opened the door to the bathroom, he was suddenly picked up by a pair of strong hands, thrown against the wall, and had his shirt ripped off. Mind you, this was a new AE t-shirt, one of the first he had ever owned that looked, well, normal._

_"_What the heck?_" he thought._

_Ryan wriggled out of his attacker's firm grasp. His head throbbed painfully, and it hurt to move his neck._

_"Ge-offa me!" he yelled, his speech slightly slurred. "Gimme my shir-back!"_

_Marcus Brenam, a senior and captain of the Varsity basketball team, sneered at him, and took a pocketknife from his coat. He flipped it open and slowly cut the sleeves off of Ryan's shirt._

_Ryan grimaced painfully as the rest of the Varsity basketball team laughed behind their captain._

_He looked at the basketball team, jeering at him safely in the shadow of Brenam. Then he saw four faces that weren't screwed up in the form of a sneer, four pairs of eyes that didn't hold raw, untouched malice._

_Troy Bolton, Chad Danforth, Jason Cross, and Zeke Baylor stood there, blinking, soaking in the scene._

_Jason opened his mouth as if to say something, but Chad put his hand up to stop him. He muttered something into Jason's ear. Jason nodded and elbowed Troy._

_Troy stepped up to Brenam and said, "Marc, just gimme the shirt…please."_

_Brenam glared at him._

_"I'll tell Mr. Matsui about your crystal meth intake before districts," put in Jason._

_Brenam's eyes flashed with fear then burned with anger._

_"Here you go, Bolton. It's giving me the creeps just touching something that belongs to this fag," growled Brenam resentfully._

_"Thank you," said Troy. He handed the now sleeveless shirt back to its owner._

_"I'm sorry about what just happened…" Troy murmured to Ryan as Brenam and his cronies sauntered out of the bathroom._

_Ryan shrugged and put on his shirt._

_"It doesn't look too bad. It looks like it was supposed to be sleeveless. You look…normal!" commented Zeke._

_Ryan grinned. "Thanks a lot you guys," he said as he raced out of the bathroom._

_Troy grabbed the sleeves from Ryan's shirt and ran out of the bathroom after him._

_"Hey, Ryan! Hey!" he called._

_Ryan whirled around. "What?" he exclaimed nervously. No one ever called him Ryan, except for Sharpay, Ms. Darbus, and Kelsi Nielson. He was always referred to as, "The Ice Princess' Brother", or "Evans"._

_Troy ran up to him and gave Ryan his shirtsleeves._

_"I'm really sorry about your shirt. I know that Brenam won't ever be truly sorry, so I'll try to apologize for him. If you want, you can come over my house and my mom can sew the sleeves back on," he offered._

_Ryan shook his head and said, "Thanks, but I have to meet Sharpay at the Y now."_

_Troy nodded and said, "Well, let me at least take the shirt home so Mom can sew the sleeves back on. Here, you can have my warm-up jacket to wear for now." He took his white warm-up jacket off and handed it to Ryan._

_Ryan took off his shirt and put on Troy's jacket. He handed Troy his shirt and its sleeves._

_"Thanks a ton. You're like the first person to be actually nice to me. Everyone avoids me 'cause think I'm a gay freak or something," said Ryan, his face shining._

_"No problem," replied Troy with and air of nonchalance…_

* * *

Ryan smiled to himself. What Troy had done for him was an example of genuine kindness, which wasn't something often expressed to Ryan. 

As he played the scene over and over again in his mind, he thought, "Maybe it's an ok idea to head to the bathroom, basketball players or not."

**Was that really bad now? Please review, and thanks for reading!**


End file.
